Means for ventilating poultry and the like battery houses



Nov. 23, 1943.

E. H. coREY y 2,335,173 MEANS FOR VENTILATING POULTRY AND THE LIKEBATTERY HOUSES Filed sept. 29, 1941 2 sheets-snet'l E n v um t y j /fEjl Q: f

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/-WmL/f Corey BY MW? ATTORNEY Nov. 23, 1943. E, H. COREY MEANS FORVENTILATING POULTRY AND THE LIKE BATTERY HOUSES FiledSept. 29, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 2 AT'ra/PNEY Patented Nov. 23, 1943 UNITED .STATES PATENTOFFICE MEANS Fon VENTILATING POULTRY AND THE LIKEBATTERY noUsEs EmmettH. Corey, RockyfRiver, Ohio Application September 29, 12941,'Sterial No.412,792

2 Claims. ('Cl. 11a-21) This invention relates to the ventilation ofhousing structures for poultry and animals.

Perhaps the most important field oiuse oi this invention is in thehousing or confining of poule try during the growing, developing, andegg-laying periods thereof and for simplication of description it willbe described herein as applied to that use, although as will becomeapparent hereinafter itis applicable to the housing and confining ofother fowls -such as game birds, etc., and oi animals such as rabbits,guinea pigs, etc., when produced in quantities for commercial purposes.v

According to the more recent practice, poultry is housed in so-calledbattery houses, illustrative of which is the battery egg-laying house,in which each hen is conned to-asmall cell or nest. These cells are opento the surrounding atmosphere to supply air to the hens, and a greatnumber ci such cells, each accommodating one hen, are customarily housedinra room or house for Weather protection, the `cells being compactlyarranged in layers or tiers or batteries. Y

There is thus a dense `poultry population `in a single, enclosed,relatively small room or house, which has advantages of practicaleconomy; but it also has the serious objection thatV the emanationsgiven ofi by the excrement and by the bodies and breath of the numerousfowls, accumulate in the enclosing room or house, and the odor or stenchthereof becomes `disgusting and intolerable to visitors or attendants.

To avoid such odor by ventilation is of course an obvious expedient, butto ventilate merely by introducing outside air into the battery `househas not proved a satisfactory solution of this difficulty, because itmerely dilutes theV odorous emanations unless it is'suppliedin s uchvolume as to make heating of the air a serious expense particularly inthe northern climates Where eggs are produced in large quantities. Y

Also in many instance itis desirableto locate the battery house in aresidence districtof a city, and the odor from thehouse when `it merelyescapes to the outside air, becomes a neighborhood nuisance. 1

Itis the'primary object of the present invention therefore to provide animproved ventilating system for battery houses of the class referred toby which the hens (or animals) coniined therein Will be supplied withfresh air, and the odors emanating from them will be carried oil withthe minimum of volume of airsupply.

Another object is to provide such a Ventilating system as that describedby. which fresh airl may be supplied to `the battery cel1s and the foul,contaminated, 4odorous `air may be conducted avvayfrom. them b yconduits and de-odorzed before discharging it into the atmosphere.

Another object is to provide. a house` or room structure containing abattery of cells` as` hereinbeiore referred to and arranged so thatduring the processV of Ventilating the'same for thedpurf poses describedthe heat given oil` by thebodies of the hens (or animals) `may berecovered Iand utilized to assist in heating` theinterior ofiv the houseor room thereby eiec'ting an economy in the heating thereof in coldweather.

Other objects will be apparent to thoseskilled in theart to which myinvention appertains.

My invention is set i-orthrhereinafter inthe appended claims; but theparticular embodiment thereof which` is illustrated and describedcomprises a room or house in which a battery. of fowl or animal cells ishoused, the room or house, being ,substantially air-tight, andintofvvhich air is inducted, by a fan or blower. The air in the roomflows into and through eachindividual cell and out` through apertureorapertures inthe back Wall-of lthe cell, an exhaust conduit systembeing-connected to these apertures to conduct the foul air yout oi theroom. The` air in the room or` house may, for greater efciency, be atslightly super-atmospheric pressure. The incoming air may be conditionedand the outgoing air maybe purified or deodoriaed by suitableapparatus.y In cod weather the exhaust'eonduit system is controlled totransfer the heat given oir by the fowls or animals in the cells,frornthe exhaust airto the air in the room, to save expense in heatingthe room or incoming air.

My invention is fully disclosed in the following description takenconnection with the accompanying drawings in Which, Fig. l is across-,sectional View of ay battery house embodyingmy invention andillustrating in connection therewith, apparatus for suppl-yingVentilating air to the house and withdrawing 1t therefrom, the viewbeing in some respects diagrammatic;

Fig. 21s a fragmentary sectional View taken from the plane 2 2 of Fig.`A1;

`Eig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating certain details of thestructure of the heusev and the structure of the cells shown in Fig; l;andthe View may be taken as illustrating a modication 4of` the. formshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4j;

Fig. l is a perspective View illustrating one `of the` cells of thebattery house of Fig. 1;

Fig. is a view illustrating an air duct adjustment which I may employ.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 4, I have shown at I and 2the side walls of a house and at 3 one of the end walls and at 4 afloor.

VExcept for particularities to be pointed out, the,

The roof of the building is preferably ci the` saw-tooth type with glass6 in the southern or steeper steps of the roof.

The walls and ceiling referred to are air-tight or substantially so, andthe necessary door to give entrance to the building (and. not shown)will preferably be made so that when it'is closed Y' v it also isair-tight.

Air is supplied to the interior of the house by Ventilating apparatuswhich conveniently-may be housed in an annex but which has been showndiagrammatically in Fig. 1. It comprises an air Afan or blower 1 havingan air intake at :B and supplying air to a conduit L9. The conduit 9passes through the side wall I of the building in sealed relationthereto, and extends entirely across the building,V above the glassVceiling 5, being closed at its terminus as at Il).

This transverse duct 9 communicates with longitudinal ducts II--I Irunning lengthwise of the building and preferably at an overheadelevation,

- terminations of this duct being indicated at I4A y and I4B in Fig. 2.The upper end of this duct passes through the ceiling 5 and intoa-header I5. In this connection it may be noted that the duct 9'referredto above passes through the vertical duct I4 in sealed relation theretoas vwill be apparent from the drawings. i

The lower end of the duct I4 opens into a transverse duct I6 under theoor 4, extending vtransversely from side to side of the .house andhaving any suitable dimension longitudinally .of

the house.

On the inside of the /wall I is a pairof vertical ducts I1 and I8communicating at their lower ends with the duct I6, and at their upperends with a header I9. Y Y

Inside of the wall 2 is a similar pair of vertical ducts 2| and 22,communicating at their lower ends with the duct I6 and at their `upper'ends with a header 23. K

The ducts I3, I'I, I8, 2I, and 22l mayr allextend longitudinally of thebuilding as far' as maybe Y. for example immediately under the glassceiling l that it is erected; or they may be separately built andinstalled in the building after the abovedescribed system of ducts hasbeen constructed.

In this respect, Fig. 1 is somewhat diagrammatic illustrating ageneralized embodiment of the invention, the details of construction ofthe ducts as well as the cells now to be described, not being shown,inasmuch as they constitute no essential part of the present invention.The ducts as well as the cells may be made from various materialssupported on suitable frames as will be well understood by those in thisart.

There are four batteries of cells in the building of Fig. 1 each batterycomprising four tiers of cells and as many cells in each tier as can beaccommodated by the length of the building and corresponding to theover-all width of the vertical duct system, which longitudinal width asre- Y ferred toiabove is indicated by the distance between thelongitudinal terminations I4A and I4B of the central duct, this beingpreferred because it leaves a space between the longitudinal terminationof the duct system and the end walls as shown in Fig. 2 to permitattendants to walk around the ends of the tiers.

The lowermost tiers of the cells are represented by the letters A, B, C,D, and are supported on the oor 4, the row of cells in the tier A beingbacked against the wall of the duct 2|; the cells of the tier B beingbacked against one wall of the duct I4; the cells of the tier C beingbacked up against the other wall of the duct I4; and the cells of thetier D being backed up against the wall of they duct I'I. The cells ofthe other tiers rest one upon the other above the ones just described asindicated in Figs, 1 and 2.

In the following, reference may be had to Fig. 4 as well as Figs. 1 and2, Fig. 4 showing a single cell in more complete detail with partsbroken away.

The front of each cell is open to tlieair in the room but the top,bottom, and side walls of each cell are preferably solid, the back Vwallobviously being -solid also inasmuch as it is constituted by the wall ofthe corresponding duct.

It is thought that a description of one cell will serve for all of theothers. The bottom wall is shown at V28, the top wall at 29, the sidewalls at 30-30 'and the back wall at 3l which as stated may be the ductwall.

The hen (or animal) stands upon an openwork false bottom 32 which at itsforward portion as at- 34 is inclined downwardly terminating forwardlyof the cell as at 33 in a trough-like arrangement for receiving eggswhich roll down the incline 34. Y

Food andwater troughs 35 and 36.are .supported across the front of thecell'accessible to the hen in the cell. Y Y

Under the false bottom 32 and resting upon the bottom 28 may be provideda pan or the like (not shown) for receiving droppings but I prefer toemploy the well-known .belt conveyor for this purposethe same beingshown at 31;

The belt 31 may be of paper or the like wound on a supply roll 38, seeFig. 2, and .wound up on a drum 39 to convey'the droppingslongitudinally Vout from'the cells for collection thereof in theWell-known manner.

Obviously the Vbottom 28 of. one cell may be the top wall ofthe nextcell below it throughout the system. Y f i An aperture 40 is providedthrough the back wall or duct wall as the case may be communicating withthe interiorA of the duct, this opening being located below the falsebottom 32 and above the bottom 28, whereby it islocated just above thelevel of excrements or droppings on Athebottom or on the conveyor belt;and asimilar aperture 4I is provided located at a point near the upperwall 29; These openings Lil!` and 4|A may extend longitudinallysubstantially-the longitudinal eX- tent of the cell, and a like pair ofopenings is provided for each cell of the. system, :each pair ofopenings communicating betweena the cell and the corresponding duct atthe back of thescell,

Provision is made to operate thesystem differently in cold` weather fromthat in hotweather, this being under the control of valves` 4.2 .to 46respectively in the` upper portions of the ducts 22, 2|, I4', andl'respectively to which reference will be made. These valves are shownin solidline in theA cold weather positions.

In the operation of the above-described construction, the only inlet forair tothe room containing the cells lis by way of theduct 9 from theblower or fan 'I and theonly outlet is byway of the duct.25.

Air enters the construction through the duct 9 and flows into the`headers I,|,,-I I and out therefrom by the openings |,3-I3 intotheroom; and, `there being no, other outlet, .it must flow through thecells and through the openings 4B andfll into the vertical ducts` I'I,I4` and 2|. The valves 43, 44, and45 being closed the air in thesevertical ducts flows downwardly. The air flowing downwardly induct Ilenters4 duct I8 and flows upwardly; similarly the air in duct 2| flowsupwardly in duct 22; the air from duct i4 ilows downwardly to duct IISand there divides ilowing part toward the right and part toward the left(as viewed in Fig. l) joining the air in ducts I8 and 22. The valves 42and 46 being open the air thus iiows into headers 23 and I9, which areconneoted to each other by ducts 24and 25; and thence the air flowsoutwardly by the duct 26.

The blower 'l' supplies the air at pressure to the duct 9 and there willcorrespondingly be a drop of pressure in the system from the duct 9tothe duct 26 due to the Various restrictions to the flow; and it ishere emphasized as one of the particular features of this Vinventionthat the drop of pressure over this path of flow producessuperatmospheric pressure in the air-tight room. This pressure ispreferably only slightly aboveatmospheric pressure for physiological orbiological reasons and is preferably controlled by the size of theopenings 4B and I leading from the cells into the ducts. The purpose ofthis pressure is to cause air within the room to flow into the openfront of every one of the cells and through the cells and out into theducts by way of the openings 40 and 4|.

This is preferably accomplished by providing an ample supply of air intothe room from the duct 9, and by a restricted flow out of the room bythe openings 40 and 4I. In some cases, al1 of the openings 4E] and 4|will be of the same size; but in order to control the rate of flowthrough these openings to make the flowrate through all of the cellsuniform, or, if desired, to vary it with respect to some of the cells,the size of the openings 4il-4I can be made adjustable by thearrangement in Fig. 5, comprising a pivoted gate 63 for covering more orless of the opening and securable in any adjusted position by the wingnut 64 at the pivot bolt.

The air owing into the front of the cell and out at the upper opening 4|flows gently past and over the hen supplying her with fresh air andcarrying emanations from the hen; and the' air flowing into the front ofthe cellV and out atV the lower opening 4t flows directly over theexcrements on the bottom of the cell or on the belt conveyor as the casemay be. There results a continuous, gentle ow of air into each of thecells, equally, if desired, and outat the back of the cell, whereby noneof the odor from the cell can find its way into the room.

The air iiowing through the cells will be heated by the heat radiatedfrom the bodies of the hens and exhaled in their breath, and this airflowing downwardly through the duct i4 and thence through the duct I6under the floor transfers heat therefrom` to thewalls of the duct I4 andto the floor where it is radiated to the air in the room. Similarly theair flowing downwardly through the ducts,v II` and 2| transfers heat tothe inner wall of the duct and thence to the air in the room; and theair flowing upwardlythrough the ducts 22 and I8 transfers heat to theouter wall of the ducts -I'I and 2| where it is radiated to the air inthese ducts. Thus notwithstanding that the air flow is outwardly fromthe room,l a part at least of the heat supplied thereto by the hens isconserved. As stated above the air flows gently orslowly and thereforeVis in Contact with the heat-transferringwalls referred to for aconsiderable period of time before `leaving the structure whereby it isgiven time for the heat transfer to occur. 1

As shown diagrammatically in the right hand part of Fig. 1, the airsupplied by the blower I may pass through a heater 'I. and through acleaner and/or humidifier 48 or other apparatus, to condition it beforeentering the building. The air in the conduit 26 may be expelleddirectly to atmosphere or it may be exhausted through a deodorizer i9Vbefore being exhausted to the at- Inosphere. The blower 2l is placed inthe line of conduit 26 to assist in the circulation of the air and alsoto reduce the drop of pressure beyond the openings 43 and 4| wherebytheir restriction of the air flow to produce pressure within the roomwill be more eiective, but the blower 2l may in some cases not beneeded. 'Ihe rate of air flow through the cells, can be controlled byregulating the speeds of the blowers I and 2 as will be understood.

In the warm weather operation, the valves 42 and 46 will be moved to theclosed or dotted line positions, and the valves 43, 44, and 45 will bemoved to the dotted line open positions, so that the air in the conduits2|, I4, and will flow upwardly and directly into the headers v23, I5,and I9 and thence out at the conduit 26.

As a further modication, whether in the summer or winter operation,valves 5I, 52, 53, and 54 may be provided at the headers 23, I5, and I9respectively and these may be thrown to their dotted line positionswhereupon the exhaust air flowing to these headers will flow directlyinto the space 55-55 under the roof and thence out to atmosphere atventilators 56-5E.

The side walls of the individual cells are preferably made of solidmaterial in order that the air will be directed to flow into the frontof each cell, but if desired, and in order not to completely isolateeach of the hens from her companions, the side walls SEI-3l) may be madeof transparent material such as glass.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the cells are in the natureof parallel outlet conduits communicating with a common outlet duct,

Aand that a hen is positioned in each of the paral- Vlel outletconduits.

As shown in Fig. 3, the ducts of the system such for example as the ductI4, may be constructed as a part of the building, and the cells may beconstructed separately and attached to the duct' walls. In Fig. 3 theduct I 4 is shown to illustrate this principle. The duct is providedwith pairs of lower and upper openings dll-4I; and the cells have each arear wall 51 provided with corresponding openings llllA` and MA; and theback wall 51 of the cell is mounted upon the wall of the duc-t i4 byscrews or the like v58 projected through the back Wall of the cell andthreaded into corresponding holes 59 in the -duct Wall.

My invention is not limited to the exact details of constructionillustrated and described nor to -the exact arrangement of the .partsthereof.

Changes and modications may be made and my invention contemplates theinclusion of all such modifications and changes which come within thescope of the appended claims.-

VI claim:

1. A ventilated housing for hens, small animals and the like, comprisingside walls and a floor wall and an overhead wallenclosinga substantiallysealed interior; aplurality of cells each having top, bottom, side andback walls and open at the front and arranged inV pairs of tiers withthe open fronts of theV cells of one tier of the pair confronting thoseof the other; passageways between the pairs of tiers and along the openfronts ofthe cells and under the overhead wall through `which attendantsAmay walk to serve the'open fronts of the' cells; the'baok wallV of eachcell having an aperture therethrough; the apertures of the cells of eachtier all communicatingwith a vertical duct associated withV that tier;an over'- head air supply duct having air inlet orifices for introducingair into'the passageways at upper portions of the passageways; theupperends of the vertical ducts all communicatingwith an overheadloutlet duct; means v to supply air through the air supply duct'andinlet orifices to the passageways under pressure therein; toY cause ,theair to flow downwardly through theA passageways and therein divide andflow from the passageways through all of the cells and their aperituresto the'vertic-al ducts and thence upwardly throughV the vertical ductsto the outlet duct; discharge ducts communicating with the verticalducts at their lower ends and communicating Vwith the outlet duct anddisposed in heat-trans- `ferring relation to the air in the passageways;normally closed valve meansV normally closing the discharge ducts andoperable to open them; and normally openrvalve means at the upper endportions of the said Vertical ducts and operable to close them. Y Y

2. A ventilated housing for hens, small animals and the like, comprisingside Walls and a floor wall and an overhead wall enclosing asubstantially sealed interior; a plurality of cells each having top,bottom, side and back walls and open at the front and arranged in aplurality of Vertical tiers in the sealed interior; passageways alongthe open fronts of the cells of the tiers and under the overhead wallthrough which attendants may walk to serve the open fronts ofthe cells;the back wall of each cell having, an aperture therethrough; theapertures of the cells of each tier all communicating with a verticalduct associated with that tier; an overhead air sup- -ply duct havingair inlet orifices for introducing air into the passageways at upperportions of the Vpassageways; the upper ends of the vertical ducts allcommunicating with an overhead outlet duct; means to supply air throughthe air supply duct 'and inlet orifices to the passageways underpressure therein, to cause the air to flow downwardly through thepassageways and therein divide and flow from the passageways through allof the cells and their apertures to the vertical ducts and thenceupwardly through the vertical ducts to the outlet duct; discharge ductscommunicating with the vertical ducts at their lower ends andcommunicating with the outlet duct and disposed in heat-transferringrelation to the air in the passageways; normally closed valve meansnormally closing the discharge ducts and operable to open them; andnormally open valve means at. the upper end portions of the saidvertical ducts and operable to close them.

EMMETT H. COREY.

